Oliver Miller had two crucial baskets in the final 21 seconds
and Doug Christie hit the clinching layup to cap a 26-point
effort as the Toronto Raptors tied a franchise record with their
third straight win, 91-87 over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Miller took an inside pass from Marcus Camby and was credited
with a bucket when Theo Ratliff was called for goaltending on a
lay-in attempt, knotting the score, 87-87, with 21 seconds to
play.

Miller came up with a big defensive play on the other end,
knocking the ball off rookie Tim Thomas and out of bounds to
force a turnover with 10.6 seconds left.

"We were going to take the last shot and we knew they were going
to double team," Sixers coach Larry Brown explained. "Tim was
on the wrong side of the court. He's a young kid and he turned
over the ball. It's the best way to learn. They executed and
we didn't, bottom line."

Camby lobbed the ensuing inbounds pass over Derrick Coleman to
Miller, who hit the wide-open, go-ahead layup with 3.5 seconds
to go.

"It was a great pass from Marcus and luckily they didn't call a
foul either way," said Miller, who had nine points. "The
atmosphere around here is coming together as a team. We're
playing good team basketball."

Christie stole the 76ers' inbounds pass and went untouched for
the layup with six-tenths of a second left to seal the victory.

"I always want to come out aggressive," he said. "I'm always
trying to come out on the ball and make something happen."

Damon Stoudamire scored 20 points for the Raptors, who matched
the best winning streak in team history, accomplished from
November 17th-21st, 1995 and equaled from March 9th-13th, 1997.
Toronto goes for a franchise-record fourth consecutive win
Thursday at Denver.

"It's always fun when you win," Raptors coach Darrell Walker
said. "Nobody wants to come in here when you lose 14 or 15
games. Tonight it was a total team effort."

Thomas scored 14 points and Allen Iverson added 13 and six
assists for the Sixers, whose six losses against Toronto are the
most by any NBA team.

Stoudamire scored six points in a 10-2 spurt midway through the
final period and his jumper gave the Raptors an 81-76 lead with
6:52 to play. But Philadelphia answered with a run of its own
and Iverson's fast-break layup tied it, 83-83, just over three
minutes later.

Clarence Weatherspoon, who scored all of his 10 points in the
first half, hit a jumper with 7:54 left in the second quarter to
give Philadelphia a 36-35 lead. That basket sparked a 12-1 run
and his dunk with 4:58 remaining built a 46-36 cushion.

"It was a game where they had the last two scores and they've
got the `W' to show for it," Weatherspoon said. "It was a good
game, full of runs. We knew coming in here it would be a
hard-fought game. They made some big shots down the stretch and
we didn't execute."

Two free throws by Jim Jackson gave Philadelphia its biggest
lead, 52-41, with 2:41 left in the second period, but Toronto
closed the half with a 10-3 spurt. Stoudamire's three-pointer
started the run and Christie drained a pair of three-pointers.

"I'm getting the same shots now, they're just falling," Christie
said. "Like I've always said, I love playing with Damon. When
he penetrates, he makes some open space."

"Anytime Doug steps up and scores 20, we have a good chance to
win," Walker added. "He helps take the pressure off of Damon."

Christie buried two more three-pointers and scored eight points
during a 15-2 burst midway through the third period to help put
Toronto back in front. Camby sank two free throws to cap the
run for a 71-64 edge, but Philadelphia reeled off the final
eight points of the period and Iverson's seven-footer put the
Sixers on top heading into the fourth.

"I was upset at the end of the first half. We gave them life,
but I thought we did some good things," Brown said. "The third
quarter was miserable, we had nine turnovers. We were throwing
the ball everywhere. We fought back, did a good job to get the
lead and then we self-destructed at the end."

Stoudamire handed out eight assists but also committed seven of
Toronto's 20 turnovers. Camby scored just seven points but
contributed 10 rebounds, a career-high seven assists and six
blocked shots.

Coleman had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Ratliff added 10
points, boards and four blocks for Philadelphia, which has lost
back-to-back games after winning five of six.